God's official spokesman joins Twitter

by Steven Mostyn - Jun 29 2011, 21:56

While social networking can’t compete with having a direct line to God, even Pope Benedict XVI sees the value of using Twitter to spread the good word to the furthest corners of the planet.

Moreover, God’s official spokesman this week signed up to the world’s trendiest messaging service and promptly began reaching out to the masses in 147-character outbursts.

“Dear Friends, I just launched News.va Praised by our Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI,” his holiness began in an effort to big-up the Vatican’s new website. What, no smiley face?

Sadly, however, it would appear the pope is far too busy to actually use Twitter himself, namely because the Rev. Federico Lombardi later revealed to CNN that he had tapped the message into an iPad on the pope’s behalf.

“The pope sent it, but it was prepared for him,” he explained. “The tablet was presented to him. He did the click and sent the tweet.”     

Although he may never actually use it, the pope’s official Twitter account is the latest attempt by the Catholic faith to embrace modern technology to communicate its religious beliefs.

For example, it posted a beautification page on Facebook for John Paul II earlier in 2011 and also launched a dedicated iPhone app back in 2009.

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